People leave league in droves.

[IceWorks]

Wally Lewis was my childhood sporting hero, so I resemble that remark about the ageing fanbase :)

Interesting topic, I think WB could be correct about going global or going away in coming decades.

RL seems to have been burdened with poor leadership over the years. Social issues which are the trend of the day seem to be more important than how many juniors are playing the game, in all of my experience AFL, Soccer, union, cricket are always much easier and common to find as options for school kids during the school week. In my opinion soccer is a superior product if for no other reason than it is global, however there is no logical reason I can work out why AFL should have outperformed league so markedly other than it has smarter people in charge of the game.

 

[Fernando]

Kickoff times, the draw in general, no consistency with gradings/the judiciary, no clear vision for the game going forward, and boring commentators are all big issues off the field.

On the field the ruck is a huge issue. How can you have a holding down penalty blown all of a sudden for an incident that was no worse than dozens preceding it? That alone makes me question the outcome of so many games. Which ties into the big issue of the refs a) having a very difficult job and b) the refs having such a huge influence.

Of all the issues I think the game going soft is not a concern, it is absolutely brutal.

 

[Browny]

The Thursday time slot is crap, I won’t watch the game if I’ve got an early start the next day, plus my daughter can’t stay up that late. Same with the second Friday night game.

My daughter just got into this year (she even calls the Storm cheats) but she misses heaps of games due to the late timings

 

[Midean]

There is 2 standout incidents that have made me want to walk away from the game.
The first was Sam Burgess copping a fine for knocking out Moylan, and now Roberts getting 2 weeks for intentionally elbowing The back of a downed, defenseless opponents head.

the whole fucking lot of the MRC need to be lined up and shot and buried in unmarked graves for their performance this season. The two examples above got under my skin the most, but are far from their only terrible calls.

If they don't change how this works, i wont be here next season.

 

[Socnorb]

On AFL, if the code were to become the dominate footy code it would eventually be overtaken by football (soccer) because it’s a superior version with global standing. Probably wouldn’t be a bad thing to have football and cricket as our 1 and 2 codes in aus. We’re heading that way in any case because of CTE.

Australian football and soccer the same?? That'll do me. Ever noticed the AfL players using their hands?

 

[Broncapz]

Kickoff times, the draw in general, no consistency with gradings/the judiciary, no clear vision for the game going forward, and boring commentators are all big issues off the field.

On the field the ruck is a huge issue. How can you have a holding down penalty blown all of a sudden for an incident that was no worse than dozens preceding it? That alone makes me question the outcome of so many games. Which ties into the big issue of the refs a) having a very difficult job and b) the refs having such a huge influence.

Of all the issues I think the game going soft is not a concern, it is absolutely brutal.

I don't know why they don't introduce a null tackle penalty for minor ruck infringements that don't quite deserve a tackle reset and a kick.

Basically it would mean that tackle would not count towards the 6.

 

[Renegade]

I don't know why they don't introduce a null tackle penalty for minor ruck infringements that don't quite deserve a tackle reset and a kick.

Basically it would mean that tackle would not count towards the 6.

That's a great idea, but what minor infringements would incur this? Hand on the ball? Grabbing of the leg? rubbish around the face (a wild Cameron Smith appears) ?

 

[Galah]

They need to get harsh with the ruck, remember that game between storm and sharks couple years ago and there was like 30+ penalties basically all ruck infringements lol I was loving it. the fucking usual suspects in the commentary team just bitched and bitched about the penalties, Ignoring the fact it’s the only way to stop the wrestling, if you were to do it consistently for however long it takes until teams get the picture (cough) Melbourne then the product will become instantly better. They let it go for so long it’s fucking ingrained in teams so of course the fix won’t be quick, until teams start loosing games over it they won’t learn.

I often watch games back in the 90’s **** what a free flowing game it was glorious! That’s not what I see anymore I just get frustrated even watching other teams play it’s insufferable.

 

[Broncapz]

That's a great idea, but what minor infringements would incur this? Hand on the ball? Grabbing of the leg? rubbish around the face (a wild Cameron Smith appears) ?

Minor slowing down of the play the ball at least. Was that extra 1-2 seconds on the ground worth missing a tackle for? Eventually it wont be.

Too many people are getting away with stuff especially in the dying minutes of a game, because penalties are just too harsh. So I'd hope it'd address the complaints of rules not being enforced without stopping the game, and the sometimes over harsh and game deciding nature of penalty kicks.

Penalty kicks will still exist obviously, and most things that are penalty kicks now should remain so.

The biggest risk is the tackle count confusion that may arise.

 

[Battler]

Australian football and soccer the same?? That'll do me. Ever noticed the AfL players using their hands?

Same sort of concept, you’re playing up and down the field and trying to get the ball through the posts/ goals.

 

[Morkel]

Minor slowing down of the play the ball at least. Was that extra 1-2 seconds on the ground worth missing a tackle for? Eventually it wont be.

Too many people are getting away with stuff especially in the dying minutes of a game, because penalties are just too harsh. So I'd hope it'd address the complaints of rules not being enforced without stopping the game, and the sometimes over harsh and game deciding nature of penalty kicks.

Penalty kicks will still exist obviously, and most things that are penalty kicks now should remain so.

The biggest risk is the tackle count confusion that may arise.

How about, deliberate slowing down the play-the-ball means the opposition isn't allowed to come off their defensive line. The tackle still counts, but the defensive line can't advance, they have to wait for the attacking team to come to them, which will give the attacking team momentum and will negate the tactics of slowing down.

 

[Kooly87]

How about, deliberate slowing down the play-the-ball means the opposition isn't allowed to come off their defensive line. The tackle still counts, but the defensive line can't advance, they have to wait for the attacking team to come to them, which will give the attacking team momentum and will negate the tactics of slowing down.

It's an interesting idea but it's just insanely hard to police in reality. Standing dead still on your line as someone runs at you would be an incredibly difficult reflex to overcome.

 

[Jedhead]

It's an interesting idea but it's just insanely hard to police in reality. Standing dead still on your line as someone runs at you would be an incredibly difficult reflex to overcome.

We've been doing it all year!